it’s the little things really, the surprises, the small flashes of color, that make life enjoyable.

so, about 6 years ago my neighbor gave me a bunch of cuttings from succulents where she had been house sitting. one was a 6 inch long sprig of christmas cactus. i stuck it in a pot, way too large for the wimpy thing, and put it inside on a book shelf at the window overlooking the front step. the other plants, stayed outside where they are flourishing to this day.

on the phone with my mom that week i was telling her about my new plants. when i mentioned the christmas cactus she made a point of letting me know that ….it was going to die. they never live, according to her.

it has filled the pot. it has flourished, but nary a blossom.

i mentioned the little things. how they are so important for happiness. when you’re hurried and stressed, that is when you notice the little things the least. but that is when you need to notice them the most.

christmas eve i was rushing to pack the car to get out of town. home from work, wrap the gifts, make sure all the dog’s meds are packed, will the car make the drive, yadda yadda.

a flash of pink out of the corner of my eye as i walk out the door. “what the?”

2 blossoms and 3 buds. i called my mother, elated, of course!

by the time i got back many blossoms had appeared.

isn’t it beautiful? the pads were covered in dust. i took it outside and dusted it with a soft paint brush, then put it on my honda for some photos.

since i average one round of gold per year….it should be action packed. as action packed as golf can get.

(keep in mind….it’s me…so yes, a dog is involved)

because i didn’t want to hit the tree and have the ball bounce back at us on the par five, i kicked the ball a few feet into the fairway. i took my far-from-trusty 7 wood and hit it perfectly, if i do say so myself. it hit the yardage marker, a thick blue pvc pipe sticking up in the middle of the fairway. it blew the top to smithereens.

knocked the cap off, cracked it into bits. the ball hit the rebar and bounced backwards into the center of the fairway. not a bad lie, really.

then, oh i wish i had my camera, my brother is teeing off and all of a sudden this giant boxer, (canine, not heavy-weight) comes running from behind the tee boxes. she trots by, totally ignoring my kissy noises. she runs up the center of the fairway, which had a slight dog-leg left, funny enough. she stopped at the green and hung out for a while.

i was driving south on a main road when i saw this convertible that looked familiar. i was sure it was a shelby cobra, the kind of car my dad used to race in the 60’s. so i pulled up next to this guy in his cool car and i asked him about his shelby. after chatting at the red light, and again while driving beside eachother, he invited me and my family to this weekend’s club cobra barbeque!

my dad had a great time chatting with all the car owners. everyone was very nice. and i had a great time photographing these very pretty cars.

i don’t know much about these cars. my dad raced them long before i was born. and to be honest….after seeing the pictures of his wreck….i’m glad my mom and i weren’t there when that happened. we would have had heart attacks!

our host let us know that all of the 20 + cars were replicas, but some people race them monthly and each car is impeccably taken care of.

i think this one is my favorite:

my mom loved the orange one, my dad loved them all. there was a silver one for sale . . .

but i just don’t think i can come up with the cash by next father’s day!

it was a beautiful day, as you can see by the sky.

i love this one, too…

i know what my normal blog readers are thinking:

“goodbear,….you’ve never posted this many pictures in a row without throwing a dog shot in there.”

oh you know me so well! of COURSE there was a dog there. meet murphy in her shelby cobra!

again, it was a great day. john was really nice so i’m glad we got to chat at the stop light. it IS ok to talk to strangers if they’re in a certain kind of car!